When Worlds Collide
The world of Beowulf and that of modern America have some interesting similarities. The Anglo- Saxon belief in "wyrd," or fate, is alive and well in the 21st century. Like the Anglo- Saxons, our culture regards the crime of killing one’s own kin or family to be the most heinous of all. Americans love entertainment just as much as the Anglo- Saxons of Beowulf’s time did. Of course, with our modern technology like movies, television, and the Internet, we are allowed to experience many more methods of enjoyment than medieval people were able to enjoy. However, their culture is remembered through portions of our popular culture.
Within its pages, Beowulf contains the notion of “wyrd.“ This is the Anglo- Saxon concept of fate, the idea that everything is destined or planned to happen. The Anglo- Saxon people believed that everything was predetermined and that all their fates were already fixed. Beowulf says to Unferth that “Fate often saves an undoomed man when his courage is good,”(p.12) meaning that fate may save a warrior if he has true courage. In modern- day America, this idea of fate is similar to the idea of having ‘an angel on your shoulder.’ Many of the people who survived the September 11th tragedy did so by missing their train that day or getting struck in traffic. One gentleman who worked high up in the first tower surfed down twelve flights of stairs as the building collapsed and survived with only a broken leg. Some believe that it was just chance or a random thing, but many believe that it was fate that saved them, the idea being that some other force had plans for these people and that their time on this earth was not yet over.
In Beowulf’s time, the w...
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... Lord of the Rings, originally a trilogy of books written by J.R.R. Tolkien, pays respect to the ancient culture and ways of the Norse people, with their traditions of oral story telling and epic quests embedded within the story’s plot.
These similarities show where some of our roots as Americans come from. Our culture is a massive patchwork quilt of various cultures and ethnicity. There are strong strains of this ancient culture running through our modern society. Beowulf is only one example of the Anglo- Saxon literature we possess today, but from it, we obtain more of what their culture was and we keep some these values alive in our own ways.
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Doctor: Yates felt she had no choice.” http://www.msnbc.com/news/709713.asp 5 March 2002.
Howe, Nicholas ed. Beowulf: A Prose Translation. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002.
Another way it is seen that culture influences one's views, is through moving. When one moves to a new place their cultural identity impacts the way they view their new surroundings. In the essay “Where Worlds Collide” author Pico Iyer portrays this idea of how cultural identity influences perspectives of those who move. In this essay as foreigners come to LA, it is said that they find the snack bar where a “piece of pizza cost $3.19 (18 quetzals they think in horror, or 35,009 dong)” (62). Because the foreigners come from a place with a completely different culture, to them pizza that costs $3.19 is extremely expensive. This is a good representation of how when moved, people view the world and their new surroundings based off of their culture. While in American culture, $3.19 for pizza
Fate plays a significant role in the Old English epic poem Beowulf and William Shakespeare's play Macbeth.. The major events of the poem, such as the three killings by Beowulf and his own death, are said to have been predestined. In Macbeth, fate is so significant that it is personified by the Weird Sisters, who drive the action of the play. But if predestination exists, then there must be an agent that determines destiny. In Beowulf, God plays this role, and fate is generally accepted as God's will. In John Gardner's Grendel, a novel which serves as a commentary on the poem, fate is totally predetermined, and is the will of no being. By contrast, Macbeth's agents of fate are the Witches, who generally go against God's will.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein conveys three main themes throughout the story: the cost of ambition, the major role family plays, and humanity and isolation. Victor’s tale of unfortunate events and consequences displays how ruthless ambition can lead to your downfall and destruction. Victor learned the hard way when he lost everything he held dear to him and eventually his own life. Once Walton heard Victor’s story of death, chaos, revenge, suffering, and loneliness, Walton decides to end his journey of finding magnetism in the North Pole, realizing he has sacrificed his sister, Margaret, for his quest for success. Walton is then saved before it is too late. The creature’s telling of events that happened to him shows that he was shunned
Loneliness and distance is one of the fundamental topics of the novel. It is outstanding that every fundamental character of the novel experience emotions of loneliness and estrangement. The Monster, Victor and Walton experience these sentiments. Victor Frankenstein, does not have great relations with his crew. He doesn 't stay in contact with his
Within 1650 to 1713 the Dutch Republic underwent a formidable transformation, which changed its status as a major influence in Europe. The Dutch Republic was a political union of seven provinces that was not only an impressive banking and commercial capital, but the Dutch also had a great navy as well. Additionally, the center of flourishment in the Dutch Republic was Amsterdam, which was the foremost trading and banking center in all of Europe. The changing environment of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries forced the Dutch Republic into a position of conflict and unbalance, which proved detrimental to their country as a whole. One of the first challenges to the Dutch Republic dealt with military and how countries, such as the English, wanted to snatch the Dutch’s profitable sea trade routes for themselves. As a result of military conflicts, the Dutch Republic’s economy decreased as a whole due to the fact that wars burdened the previously flourishing trade routes and wealthy cities. Another challenge to the Dutch Republic was unity and how Dutch cities began to doubt other provinces of loyalty to one another, which destroyed most efforts of unification for retaliation against the countries attacking the Dutch. Overall, the major decline of the Dutch Republic was a great example of when one part of a nation goes down, the rest of the nation followed suit.
The epic poem, Beowulf, is one of the oldest European epics in existence. When Beowulf was written, the writer incorporated many of the ideals of the Anglo-Saxons. Some of these ideals included loyalty, bravery, selflessness, and justice and were demonstrated in the hero. Both the characters Beowulf and Grendel represent aspects of both good and evil, Christianity and Paganism, and what occurs when they collide with one another. A characteristic of an epic poem is the concern over struggles that humans face, which is presented in a serious manner. The hero often embodies the religious, national, and cultural values of his homeland and abroad. The premise of the story is quite simple: the Danes were in distress because of the great monster Grendel, so Beowulf, a native of the Geats, sails to engage in battle with Grendel and become victorious in saving the seemingly faithless Danes. Throughout the epic, there are many instances where examples of the thirteen epic conventions are used in the writing of Beowulf and in describing both the ideals of the Anglo-Saxons and the underlying challenges with mortal problems, such as good versus evil.
Many people who read the poem Beowulf would probably find it hard to find similarities between the poem and life in modern America. How could one compare an ancient Anglo-Saxon culture with the sophisticated world that we are living in today? But, if we look closely, we may be able to pinpoint some parallel between the two societies. This essay will discuss the topics of warrior life, the “bad guy,” and social similarities. One might wonder how a warrior culture might be similar to our own? But if we consider American culture, we are actually still very war-like. We have a strong military system built to protect our country and the people that make it up. We are also known for going to the aid of other countries that aren’t able to defend themselves. This is very similar to the mentality of the warriors in Beowulf. Beowulf comes to the aid of Hrothgar’s falling kingdom.
Friendship is one of the most common human desires found all over the world in every different type of people. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this deep-seeded need is explored, especially as it manifests itself in the hearts of three great men. Captain Walden writes to his sister about the loneliness that he is experiencing on his journey at the very start of the book. Then, as the story progresses, a similar want can be found in Victor despite his tightly woven relationship with Henry Clerval. The Creature is constantly denied his lust for companionship demonstrates the horrible consequences of incessant loneliness. His amiable nature combined with his grotesque appearance proves to be a horrific collaboration that serves only in gaining rejection as he is shunned, quite irrationally, over and over again by all living beings. The Creature's suffering could only be abandoned if he were able to encounter an unprejudiced and completely tolerant friend. Shelley masterfully conveys the importance of a kindred spirit and the overall necessity of loyalty between people.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Anglo-Saxon word “wyrd” means “the principal, power, or agency by which events are predetermined; fate, destiny.” The Anglo-Saxon understanding of fate is not all too different from our modern understanding and applies to both Christian and pagan beliefs. Fate is a force that controls a man’s life regardless of his actions. Fate is usually seen as three women, sometimes blind, who weave the thread of a man’s life and cut it when it is his time to die.
According to Riaz and Junaid (2010), there are four levels of conflict evaluation: intragroup, intergroup, intrapersonal and interpersonal. Sources of intrapersonal conflict include inappropriate demand on one’s capacity, goal incongruence and mal-assignment. Mal-assignment rises in cases where an employee is allocated a task to which he or she does not have the right skills or knowledge, commitment or aptitude. The employee experiences an overloaded qualitative role resulting to role conflict. The employee is unable to satisfy the specified capacity even if he or she works to his or her capacity leading to quantitative ro...
...e seeking help and strength to take care of problems in their lives. Victor Frankenstein is a man with a loving and caring family. Family and friends are an important part of his life. He has his whole life in front of him, when creates his monster. He creates the monster in the likeness of man with same need of love and affection as man. Although, this is his creation, he lets the monster down and does not care for him. The monster begins to feel neglected and lonely and wants desperately to have a human relationship. The monster turns angry and revengeful because he is so sad and abandoned. He wants Victor to feel the way that he does, all alone. The monster succeeds and Victor ends up losing all the important in his life and his own life. In the end, the monster dies and the need for human relationship becomes the destruction for both the monster and Victor.
Another similarity of course is violence. Violence is obviously present in Beowulf’s world. The determinant of status holds its roots in violence. The only way for a warrior to prove himself is through battle, or violence. Specifically this can be seen through the character, Unferth. He was not respected as a warrior due to his inability to win battles. He tried to find faults in Beowulf to raise his own ego. The disrespect given to this man was due to his unsuccessfulness in violent engagements.
Netherlands little quirks that make it special are of of the best parts about it. Netherlands history is an important part, because without it the Netherlands would not be what it is today. On January 3, 1648, the Netherlands was founded. The royal House of Orange was the main royal class in that time, and Prince Williams was the man
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, one of the key themes is loneliness. For many, most of their time is spent with people, whether it is friends, family, coworkers, or strangers. Many of the characters in this book break that norm and spend countless hours alone. Having time to reflect and think about everything. Sometimes, the characters are still lonely, even with people, and sometimes friends around them.
Look up the word conflict in the dictionary and you will see several negative responses. Descriptions such as: to come into collision or disagreement; be at variance or in opposition; clash; to contend; do battle; controversy; quarrel; antagonism or opposition between interests or principles Random House (1975). With the negative reputation associated with this word, no wonder people tend to shy away when they start to enter into the area of conflict. D. Jordan (1996) suggests that there are two types of conflict: good, which is defined as cognitive conflict (C-type conflict) and, detrimental, defined as affective conflict (A-type conflict). The C-type conflict allows for creativity, to pull together a group of people with different opinions or ideas, to combine and brain storm all thoughts to develop the best solution for the problem. The A-type conflict is the negative form when you have animosity, hostility, un-resolveable differences, and egos to deal with. The list citing negative conflicts could go on forever. We will be investigating these types of conflicts, what managers can do to recognize conflict early, and what strategies they can use to resolve conflicts once they have advanced.